add-on.xml and p3dv4, best approaches out there? ftx?

[theskyisthelimit 48]

On 7/17/2017 at 0:36 PM, vgbaron said:

Essentially I have a folders F:\Addon Aircraft and F:\Addon Scenery. When I install a product, I direct it to those folders. SO I would then have something like F:\Addon Aircraft\Alabeo and under that would be effects, gauges, sound, simobjects , etc.

Then using the Lorby P4AO tool I create an addon.xml for the entry. This keeps all Alabeo aircraft together. If I need to disable a specific aircraft, I just move the specific aircraft folder in SIMOBJECT somewhere else and it's gone.

For the odd and end aircraft that I like to fly, I created a Generic Aircraft folder in F:\Addon Aircraft and use that.

As for World Scenery -  scroll to page 5 - the discussion about Base Layer should answer that.

 

Vic

I'm back tracking finally to aircraft again. 

I saw you did this with alabeo how about p3dv4 Carenado?  I pointed the v4 installer to my add-on Carenado folder. It ran. No add-on xml was created. I assume I either have to Use lorby or the batch file. 

Two issues. One with a single add-on xml for the Carenado subfolder not sure that will populate them all. And the other is the sound folder. It has subfolders per craft. I think the sounds need be in one folder. 

I think a little fail in Carenados part here

How did you do yours?

Thanks. 

[vgbaron 3,627]

I pointed the installer to the addon Aircraft folder - that gave me

addon aircraft/Carenado

Carenado

Effects

Fonts

Gauges

Simobjects

Sound

I then use the Lorby tool to add the effects,fonts,gauges,simobjects & sound

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="AddOnXml" version="4,0" id="add-on">
  <AddOn.Name>Carenado</AddOn.Name>
  <AddOn.Description>Carenado AddOns</AddOn.Description>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Effects</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Effects</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Fonts</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Fonts</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Gauges</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Gauges</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>SimObjects</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\SimObjects\Airplanes</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Sound</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Sound</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
</SimBase.Document>

[theskyisthelimit 48]

2 hours ago, vgbaron said:

I pointed the installer to the addon Aircraft folder - that gave me

addon aircraft/Carenado

Carenado

Effects

Fonts

Gauges

Simobjects

Sound

I then use the Lorby tool to add the effects,fonts,gauges,simobjects & sound

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="AddOnXml" version="4,0" id="add-on">
  <AddOn.Name>Carenado</AddOn.Name>
  <AddOn.Description>Carenado AddOns</AddOn.Description>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Effects</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Effects</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Fonts</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Fonts</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Gauges</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Gauges</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>SimObjects</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\SimObjects\Airplanes</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Sound</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Sound</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
</SimBase.Document>

Ok thanks. Yea that's basically what I've done and was going to do

It's just the sounds folder I wondered with sub folders before you get to each set of files, I thought I read that this won't work and all sound files need be in same sound root folder but maybe it does. Will try and find out 

[simbol 5,819]

4 hours ago, vgbaron said:

I then use the Lorby tool to add the effects,fonts,gauges,simobjects & sound

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="AddOnXml" version="4,0" id="add-on">
  <AddOn.Name>Carenado</AddOn.Name>
  <AddOn.Description>Carenado AddOns</AddOn.Description>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Effects</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Effects</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Fonts</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Fonts</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Gauges</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Gauges</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>SimObjects</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\SimObjects\Airplanes</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Sound</Category>
    <Path>F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Sound</Path>
  </AddOn.Component>
</SimBase.Document>

A world of caution with this technique, you guys are instructing PD3 to resolve effects names, fonts names, gauges names and sounds names from alternative folders path with a higher priority from any base files or other add- on's, as a result you could cause conflicts with the simulator base files or third party add-on's without noticing.

For example:

If F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Sound has a sound file with the name SoundA.wav and F:\AddOn Aircraft\Carenado\Gauges has a gauge file with the name GaugeCarenado01.*, and there is any base sound file or any other third party utility / plane with the name of  SoundA.wav or GaugeCarenado01.* or  any other plane has a sound file with the name SoundA.wav  or an gauge with the name of GaugeCarenado01 it will be "Logically" overridden, since the simulator has been instructed to use the new .XML defined paths in preference to any other files in the system!, same thing would happen with gauges, effects, fonts, etc.

If you have multiple Carenado planes the simulator could get confused as to what gauges or sound the plane uses, Carenado has similar texture and gauges names for some of their planes (Phenom-100 and Phenom-300 is an example)

What you guys should do, is declare only in the XML is the SimObjects Section , this way the simulator will find the Carenado planes on your alternate path and use the Subfolders for the Sound, Gauges, etc. to model the planes without altering any other part of the simulator file loading preference system.

Lastly I don't recommend messing about with any add-on's installation, developers have designed their tools, applications and utilities to work in certain way, and changing it will alter their testing environment so it is almost certain you will create unwanted problems or bugs for your simulation enviroment.

Kind Regards,
Simbol.

 

Regards,
Simbol

[vgbaron 3,627]

Well, yes and no.

The SOUND folder in the Carenado XML is the same as copying the SOUND folder into the base sim sound - which is what Carenado intended. Within the SIMOBJECTS folder there ARE the aircraft specific sound files and cfg. Same with FONTS and GAUGES - in a non addon.xml install, they are copied into the base sim folders where they may or may not overwrite existing files.

There will be no confusion at all, it's just a different starting location - one P3D locates the files, they are processed as if they were in the "usual" location.

As to messing with install files - the developer supports alternative install methods but they do not have a specific installer for each method/product.

There are some which MUST be installed in the base folder, ie Milviz and some others or they will not work, mainly due to indirect folder references. One cannot just blindly cram every addon into the xml method without asking for trouble.

Bottom line - if the developer follows the rules, there will be no conflicts - the P3D add-on xml method is pretty solid. There are some slight anomalies with scenery but they are being investigated by LM

Vic

[theskyisthelimit 48]

I ran into some testing issues with this method i discovered.. i broke this off into its own thread however, located here.. in case anyone is curious. (some sounds not working, possibly aileron issues, though it could be something else intermittent)

[vgbaron 3,627]

ok, I'll shut this one down and it can continue in the other thread.

 

Vic